According to the Heart Foundation, cardiac rehabilitation can reduce hospital readmissions and death within the first year after a coronary event (e.g. a heart attack) by as much as 56%. Other benefits are that cardiac rehabilitation:

• Accelerates recovery after a heart attack
• Improves clinical outcomes (e.g. lower cholesterol levels and more stable blood pressure)
• Improves behavioural outcomes (e.g. exercise tolerance, smoking cessation)
• Reduces repeat cardiovascular events and hospital readmissions
• Strengthens adherence to medication
• Enhances mental health and quality of life.

When having a heart attack, you may experience the following symptoms: pain, pressure, heaviness or tightness in one or more parts of your upper body, including your chest, shoulder(s), neck, arm(s), jaw or back. This may occur in combination with other symptoms. For example, you may also feel nauseous, dizzy or light-headed, short of breath or have a cold sweat. Warning signs vary from person to person and they may not always be sudden or severe. If you have warning signs of heart attack that are severe, get worse quickly or last more than 10 minutes, call triple zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance.

According to the Australian Government Department of Health, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disease burden in Australia. For many people, the first and most important step in managing cardiovascular disease involves seeing a doctor and addressing modifiable risk factors such as smoking, insufficient physical activity, poor diet and excessive alcohol consumption. Additionally, there are a range of medicines and surgical treatments available for cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiac rehabilitation programs are appropriate for patients who have:

• Had a heart attack (also known as a ‘myocardial infarction’)
• Undergone medical or surgical procedures including angioplasty or stenting, open-heart surgery (such as coronary artery bypass surgery), valve replacement or heart transplant
• A diagnosis of angina or heart failure.

Yes, you will need a referral from your GP or Cardiologist to attend Cardiac Rehab.

Symptoms of respiratory disease may include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath during exercise, a stubborn cough, chronic mucous, breathing noisily, coughing up blood or chest pain, depending on the type of respiratory disease. A doctor is always best placed to diagnose respiratory disease and advise you on the best management strategy.

Pulmonary rehab involves education and a graded exercise program performed under the supervision of a health professional. Pulmonary rehabilitation is individualised to each patient as not all respiratory diseases respond the same to exercise.

Both pulmonary and cardiac rehab programs have an exercise component to improve your strength and fitness. The main difference is the education provided to patients regarding your condition. Cardiac rehab will give you the skills to look after your heart as best you can. A pulmonary rehab program will give you the skills to manage your breathlessness as best you can.

There is good evidence to show a pulmonary rehabilitation program that provides exercise over a six to eight week period and education that teaches people with respiratory disease how to manage their condition will improve breathlessness, improve their health generally and help keep them out of hospital.

Yes, you will need a referral from your GP or specialist to attend Pulmonary Rehab.